sb. (and a.) [a. F. bacchante, ad. L. Bacchāntem: see prec. The first pronunciation is after the Fr.; the third after It. (etc.) baccante, favored perhaps by the fact that the plural (of both genders) is often Bacchantes after L.]
A. sb. A priestess or female votary of Bacchus.
1797. Holcroft, trans. Stolberg’s Trav., III. lxxvii. (ed. 2), 170. She capered with the intoxication of a Bacchante.
1811. L. Hawkins, C’tess & Gertr., I. 313. Whether male or female, a bacchante, or a Silenus.
1847. Longf., Ev., II. 2. To follow or guide the revel of frenzied Bacchantes.
B. attrib. as adj.: cf. BACCHANT.
1821. Byron, Juan, IV. xcii. A Bacchante blooming visage.
1868. ‘Holme Lee,’ B. Godfrey, I. 283. Emmot laughed with her bacchante air.
